He
opened one eye and stared at the browned skin a few inches from his
face. Huh? He sat up, peering around blearily in the bright light, and
the cats and voices crashed over him like a wave. Kasan was next to
him, smiling, and he had…

“Oh my GOD! Did we just- ?
You just -? What did you do to me?!” Max jumped to his feet, slipped on
his cushion, and fell sideways into Zonta. His legs smacked into the
table on his way down, and the water and plate of flowers went flying.
Kasan caught the water pitcher before it landed on the floor, and ended
up with a pile of red flowers decorating his hair and ears. Max stared
at him as Zonta’s hands helped him to his feet.

For
the love of God, they’d just fucked against a wall! A WALL! And Max had
been the one to come onto KASAN!! He’d gotten so horny just looking at
Kasan that he’d actually wanted it! He’d practically attacked him!

It
was worse than being a cock whore! At least if he was a whore, he just
lay there and enjoyed things. Now he was attacking other men for sex!
He was a… a… an ass commando or something! How could he have done that?
He let out a pitiful moan and whimpered as his throat hurt. Why would
his throat hurt? It wasn’t…

A shiver ran through his
body as he remembered screaming Kasan’s name. He had actually screamed
himself hoarse. From sex. And he was suddenly aware of stinging and
aches in very freaking intimate places. Every detail about how he’d
gotten them slammed into him.

It made him a little
hard again.

“Noooooo! It’s not fair! How can you
make guy-sex that good?!” Max clamped his lips shut. He didn’t want to
like this, but it was like he was getting worse! He was getting
addicted to Kasan. Was that possible? He looked at Kasan and the slight
sheen on bronze skin made him pant suddenly. Fuck! It was! He was an
anal-sex-with-aliens addict!

“Why is this
happening to me? I was a good kid! I went to church, dammit! I- “ Kasan
stood and Max shut up as he looked high into Kasan’s face. He gulped.
He was just never going to get used to having to look up so high at
everyone. It was too nerve wracking. “You’re way the hell too tall,
Kasan.”

A flower fell off of Kasan’s hair and he
shook his head irritably until petals rained down onto Max. Waving his
arms, Max brushed them away.

“Hey! I don’t need a
flower shower, okay!”

Kasan ran his hand over his
own head, picking out a few remaining petals and unraveling the remains
of a long braid in the process. He reached down, picked up the papers
that were still on the table, and held them out to Max.

Kasan
screwed him until he passed out, and now he wanted to act like nothing
had happened? That was just… just…

“Just like the
first time.” Max grumbled. Crap. Why did no one think this was a
problem but him?! Kasan wasn’t upset about it at all; Max could tell.
Those ears of his were all perky and happy looking. Didn’t Kasan
realize what a big deal this was? It was huge! Hot sex, WALL, multiple
orgasms in the middle of a party…

…kinda like a spy
film, if you thought about it just right.

He
sighed and rubbed his face. “Yeah, if the big, badass spy was the one
getting screwed.” He suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for all the women
in those action movies. “What would a movie chick do if she just got
screwed against a wall?”

Like he even needed to
ask. They’d go back to the party like nothing happened. And then they’d
turn out to be the double agent and try to kill the spy later. Stupid
randy spies. If he ever got to name a spy film, he was going to call
it: Badass Spy Gets Exactly What He Deserves for Being Such a Horny
Bastard.

Damn. He looked up at Kasan. There was a
bright petal still stuck next to one black ear. Fine, Kasan was acting
like nothing had happened? Max could do the same thing. He’d just
pretend and make sure he never did something like this again. Sort of
like his first blind date.

Except it had been so
good.

He shook his head. No more! Kasan was smiling
at him, still holding onto the papers, and Max concentrated on that
instead. He was not going to think of the darn sex, he’d think of what
was happening, that’s all. Think of right now, when Kasan was being
nice and helpful.

Thank God, because
if someone else screwed him up against a wall he’d…

Crud.

Kasan
was… He was… Oh yeah…married to him.

How often did
married couples HAVE sex here, anyway?

Aaaaaagh! No
more stupid sex thoughts! Max wanted to pound at his head. He was NOT
going to think about Kasan and how gigantic he was or how smooth his
skin was or how sexy his smile was or…

Moaning under
his breath, Max grabbed at his hair with both hands. He had more
self-control than this! Dammit, if he could learn over a dozen
languages, he could go five minutes without thinking about some pushy
alien and how fantastic the sex with him was!

Think.
He had to think of something that wasn’t sexy at all. Putting his hands
down, he stared at Kasan. Kasan stood there, waiting, holding out the
papers. He rustled them at Max as though he didn’t know if Max had seen
them, and Max suddenly had an image of his fourth grade homeroom
teacher. She’d always rustled the homework papers she was returning if
she thought a student wasn’t paying attention.

He
pictured Kasan dressed in the baby blue sweater, tweed skirt, and
granny glasses she’d always worn. Muscles would be bulging out and
Kasan would look at the clothes in confused disgust and accidentally
smash the glasses as he looked at them. Max laughed once.

Not
sexy in the least, just funny. Finally. Max reached up to take the
papers from Kasan, and the big cat smiled. He looked relieved. It was
like he’d been expecting Max to completely freak out or something.

Hmph.
If he was flipping out, it was all Kasan’s fault anyway. Stupid, sexy
jerk.

Still smiling, Kasan handed the translations
over and leaned down at the same time to kiss him. His hand full of
paper, Max stared into Kasan’s eyes as their lips touched. Soft and
warm, it only lasted a few moments. Just long enough for Max’s entire
body respond before Kasan pulled back. There were a few laughing
comments yelled out around the room and Max flushed, shaking himself
free from whatever haze Kasan seemed to have poured over his brain.

“Kasan!
How can you- We just screwed, you stupid sex fiend! You- You-“ Max’s
fists clenched, crushing his papers, and he felt like throwing them at
the big pervert. “Fine! You’re so happy I didn’t lose it that you go
and kiss me? I’m gonna freak out for the rest of the night! How do you
like that!?”

A deep voice spoke from just behind
him and he jumped. He turned quickly. These stupid cats and their
stupid quiet walking and…

“Shit!” His throat closed
up; all he could get out was a ragged squeak. He started backpedaling
frantically. The perverted cat! The big, red headed pervert who’d
grabbed him last night! Max backed right into Kasan and he didn’t say a
peep as the man wrapped an arm around his chest to anchor him there.
Kasan groping him? Perfectly fine! Kasan taking him away to screw
against a different wall? Freaking fine! Anything that kept the other
pervert away was perfectly, wonderfully fine!!

“I’ve
got people to seduce before all the good ones are spoken for, Kasan.
Can you get it going with the introductions to your little cutie pie
here?”

“Max, Aosh. Aosh, Max,” Kasan
said in a
irritable tone, pointing between the two of them. Aosh bowed quickly
and said their little greeting. Max got out a ‘pleased to meet you’ so
fast it was probably incomprehensible, but he didn’t care. Almost
everyone seemed to leave after they said it, so he was hoping the
perverted bastard would follow the same pattern. Kasan relaxed his hold
on Max as Aosh turned to walk away, and everything in Max calmed.

Crud.
The ass-molesting jerk had been close enough he could have picked him
up again! He shivered. Bad enough that the entire race towered over
him, they had to have giant perverts, too. If he ever got back to
earth, he was making them list that as one of the dangers of outer
space exploration, dammit. Watch out for big damn space perverts, all
you earth midgets.

That was still so frustrating.
He wasn’t short, yet he felt like such a Lilliputian with all these
cats around. Especially as everyone was even more humongous than Kasan.
Bastards. Max glared at the back of Aosh’s head as Kasan sat back down
at the table. About to join him, he saw Aosh turn back a moment. The
big cat looked at Kasan, already distracted by Zonta, and smiled slowly
before he blew Max a kiss. He laughed at Max’s gaping mouth before he
turned away again.

That damn pervert! Thought he was
hot shit, didn’t he? Thought he could do anything he wanted ‘cause the
little human couldn’t do a damn thing about it, huh? Stupid jerk! Well,
Max had just fucking had enough of that! Just…enough! With a frustrated
growl, he ran the few steps separating them and kicked high and hard
into stupid Aosh’s leg. It hit the cat in the back of the knee. Aosh
grunted in surprise and stumbled forward, catching himself in a kneel.

“Take
that, asshole! Thought I couldn’t do anything to you and now you’re on
your knees, aren’t you?! So much for being a super barbarian; Max
Renwood takes you down!” Max hooted and made obscene gestures as he
danced from foot to foot, euphoria and adrenaline singing in his veins
until Aosh shifted. The cat’s back rippled with muscle as it braced
itself to push back to its feet, and he suddenly realized that he was
looking at the back of Aosh’s head. The cat was still on his knees, and
he was a little taller than Max.

And Max was
standing on his feet.

Oh shit.

He
gulped and took a step back. What the fuck was wrong with him!? Aosh
COULD darn well do whatever he wanted because he was A FREAKING GIANT!
Crap, the cat would kill him! With more speed than he’d ever used in
his life, Max sprinted back to Kasan and crouched down on the other
side of him.

Hiding.

Kasan
was big. Kasan had beat up this Aosh guy before. Please oh please let
Kasan be willing to not give him away right now! Or better yet, let him
beat up Aosh.
Oh God, Max was
going to freaking die!

He peeked up and saw Kasan
staring down at him. The cat looked confused and amused as Max shooed
at him with his hands.

“Crap, don’t look or he’ll
know where I am!” Max whispered frantically. Dammit, did Kasan WANT his
consort to get killed?! Aosh muttered something that sounded nearer
than it should be and Kasan turned away as Max made himself as small as
possible. He stayed that way until Kasan looked at him again. The man’s
eyes were round and he was smiling broadly. Maybe he didn’t mind that
Aosh character getting a good kick in the knee? As long as he kept Aosh
from doing the same thing to him…

“One little blown
kiss, that’s all I did, Kasan.” Aosh chuckled and Kasan
turned back to
him again. Max hoped Aosh wasn’t about to do something to him. Kasan
would stop him then, wouldn’t he? Maybe? “What a funny little brat. I
guess if you come downstairs limping tomorrow we’ll all know what
happened.”

“Very funny. You’re lucky that’s
all it
was or I’d be the one kicking your sorry ass.”

“Oh
don’t worry. I’m well aware that he’s your consort now. I’d never touch
the little thing.” There was a long silence, but Max
didn’t hear anyone
leave. Of course, he’d never heard Aosh walk up behind him in the first
place. What if the cat was creeping up on him? Right now? Kasan would
probably help him out, but could he really be sure of that? He might
need to run again.

Max bit his lip. Putting his
hands on Kasan’s side, he risked a look around the cat’s torso, peeking
behind his back. He gulped as he stared into Aosh’s face just a few
feet away. There was a snort, and then Aosh was shaking his head and
laughing

“Damn
but he is the funniest thing.
Promise me you’ll find out where he came from? I think I might like one
of my own. Those ears are beyond adorable…” Aosh laughed
again and
turned away.

Max took a deep breath and let it out
slowly, yelping when Kasan turned, picked him up, and plunked him onto
his lap.

“Kasan
happy.” He picked up a
soft neon pink fruit and handed it to him. “Food.”

“Yeah,
I know it’s food, lecher cat,” Max muttered. But damn, he was still
hungry. He took it out of Kasan’s hand and tried to ignore the fact
that his tunic had shifted and his naked ass was resting on Kasan’s
legs. But Aosh was gone. He let that sink in.

He’d
kicked the jerk, and nothing had happened to him. Ha! Take that, stupid
cat! You got taken down by a member of the kick-ass human race! Eat
dirt! Grinning, he took a big bite of the fruit and lay the papers that
were completely crumpled in his fist onto the table. He tried to focus
on the language as he flattened them out. He hadn’t been hit, he had
been fed, and he’d been given a way to begin talking to the cats.

And
he’d kicked that big pervert and taken him down! Double ha!

It
could be worse, right? A whole lot worse. If he could just figure out
this new language and see if he could keep from getting screwed again…
His face heated and he squirmed, feeling Kasan’s skin heating up his
backside.

“Um, yeah. Language. Learn the language,
and then…other stuff. Words, words, words. Just do the words right
now.” There weren’t that many phrases; not much more than 100, and
almost half of them were just different words for family members. With
that many, family must be a really big deal in this culture. It made
learning it all a heck of a lot easier, though; there’d probably be a
lot of repetition in there. So he could do this. He’d had to learn more
phrases than this in one of his cram sessions; this should be no sweat.

Especially not for someone who’d stood up to a
giant cat pervert.

He grinned to himself. If that
nice cat, Zonta, helped him a little, he could figure it out before
they finished eating, maybe.

If Kasan and he didn’t
leave again and get all sweaty together. His smile faded and he felt a
little flushed at the reminder.

If he could get his
penis to stop thinking about Kasan’s leg underneath his naked butt.

He
took another bite of fruit a little desperately and turned to Zonta.
Words, not legs. Words, not legs. He swallowed heavily as he felt
Kasan’s muscles flex underneath him.

Kasan had
really nice skin.

“Gaaah. Stop moving, Kasan! I’m
trying to work here!” He looked up backwards at Kasan’s face and glared
at the total lack of comprehension there. “Max NO happy!”

Kasan
grinned. “Max isn’t happy,” he corrected, and kept grinning as Max
nodded and repeated the phrase back to him. He couldn’t believe the
little thing had kicked Aosh! Damn, he wished he could have seen more
than the aftermath; he’d probably still be laughing. “My little
warrior, huh?” He fuzzed Max’s hair fondly and Max jerked his head away
with an annoyed humph. Max cast him one last glare and then looked over
at Zonta, belligerently pointing to the paper and talking to his
brother as though trying to prove Kasan didn’t exist. Kasan grinned
again. Let the little scholars enjoy each other; he was going to enjoy
Max’s pert little bottom against his thighs.

Damn,
he could take him again already.

His brother
Nolluz cleared his throat from across the way. “While that was
undeniably entertaining, in a rather crude sort of way, there are
things that you need to finish, Kasan. You haven’t introduced us yet.”

“You’ll
have to wait. Max is busy.” Not that a little research would have
stopped him with any other brother, even Aosh, but Nolluz was such an…

“That
is insufficient reason to delay an introduction, Kasan. I shouldn’t
even need to remind you of your duty. You are not some ignorant,
pre-ripened child.”

…uptight, condescending prig.

“Reason
enough for me.” Kasan smiled and crossed his arms. “By the way, I
didn’t get to thank you for the dungeons yet.”

Nolluz’s
ears were tense and down. “I don’t see what the dungeons have to do
with this conversation, brother.”

Max
pushed himself back into Kasan with a frightened squeak as Nolluz
reared up to his knees, grabbing at his backside. With an outraged
glare, Nolluz turned to his consort so quickly that his dark brown
braid swung out and hit the table.

Neera smiled
sweetly at him. “Don’t mind me. Go right ahead with what you were
saying.”

“You- you-“ Nolluz seemed unable to finish
his sentence and Kasan waited to find out what had just happened. It
was bound to be good; there was a reason he really like Neera.

“I
was just checking. Sorry to have interrupted. You can continue talking.”

“You
were checking for what!!?”

“Oh, it seemed like
that stick must have snuck back into your bottom. I was going to take
it out for you.” Kasan laughed at Nolluz’s shocked look. When Neera
merely raised an inquiring eyebrow at her mate, her honeyed ears
innocently curious, Nolluz finally snorted once and sat back down. A
reluctant smile twisted his lips for just a moment.

“Brat.”
Nolluz’s voice was soft.

Neera smiled back and
leaned against his shoulder. “You need a brat. Be happy you got one or
you’d be so insufferable no one would have anything to do with you
anymore.”

Kasan smiled. “Completely true. Neera, you
have done a wonderful job keeping him from being the man he could have
been today. My brothers and I are eternally thankful.” He looked down
at Max, who was beginning to relax again now that no one was yelling.
“And now that Max is no longer busy… Max, this is Neera and Nolluz.
Neera, Nolluz, this is my consort, Max.”

Max was
already bowing and repeating the phrases, still a little nervous until
Kasan pointed to Nolluz. “Max? Nolluz is happy. Happy.”

Nolluz
looked at him. “What in the world are you talking about? I’m not happy.”

Zonta
spoke quietly and drew Max’s attention back to the papers while Kasan
answered Nolluz. “You saw the archivists; they brought in a few pages
of text that are helping us communicate. I don’t have a lot of choices
in vocabulary.”

“And the best you could do was ‘I’m
happy?’ Why would you…”

Neera poked Nolluz in the
side. “Obviously, he doesn’t have the words yet to say ‘my brother here
is having a small conniption and isn’t really about to leap over the
table to try to eat you.’ Would that be about it, Kasan?”

“Pretty
close.” He didn’t get a chance to say more before there was a high
pitched crying from the corner of the room. Neera laughed lightly.

“That
would be my signal to leave. We’d better go see to the little ones.”

“I
was wondering about that. Why didn’t you simply bring them to the
table?” It was a rare thing for parents to be away from their children
at a gathering like this. He was actually surprised they’d managed to
get this much time to themselves, now that he thought about it.

Neera
looked at Max. “I didn’t want to do anything to upset your little one
there. If he’s as fragile as he seems, we’ll need to have quite a bit
of ‘being gentle’ practice before the children are going to be allowed
near him.” She looked at Kasan seriously. “You may want to take that
into consideration if anyone else comes by with their littles.”

He
leaned over and touched her lips briefly. “Thank you. I’ll make sure to
take care.”

She nodded, smiling, and she and Nolluz
left with their hands entwined only to be mobbed by a small pile of
children when they made it across the room.

Kasan
took a deep breath and looked down at Max’s head. That was the last of
his brothers. His father Kyoru would be coming over now. Not every
family operated that way, but his father usually assumed that their new
consorts might be a little nervous meeting the Lord King of the Hinta
and he tried to let them enjoy the other siblings first before he
showed. Kasan had to smile to himself; somehow, he didn’t think his
father’s position would worry Max any more than every other person he’d
met. One Kyashin probably looked just as intimidating as another to Max.

He
hoped so, because his father was already on his way over. Kasan moved
his tail forward and wrapped it around Max’s waist to keep the tip from
twitching. Max squirmed and petted it absently as he continued to talk
with Zonta and Kasan almost jumped. His cock hardened underneath Max
and his belly clenched with shocked arousal. Max was touching his tail!
Dear God above, he’d not even thought of it.

No one
touched his tail. He might smack someone with it occasionally, but
there had been too many pranks and yanks in his childhood for him to
tolerate any other contact. He kicked anyone’s ass who touched his tail
now, and they all knew it. Except for Max, and Kasan’s breath hitched
as dexterous fingers ran through the short fur. Ohhhh that felt nice. A
purr started low in his throat and his felt his body start to arch
before he shivered and stopped himself. He didn’t have time to continue
this. He was so very happy Max seemed comfortable with Kasan’s embrace,
and…oooooh damn, they were going to have to do this again when they had
privacy…but now wasn’t the time! He needed to be able to concentrate.
With a rather jerky push, Kasan reached his arm forward and insinuated
it between Max’s hands and his tail. Max continued talking and his
hands quieted against Kasan’s skin. Good.

Kasan
glanced at Zonta’s animated face as he spoke with Max and smiled,
trying his best to control his arousal in the last moments he had
before his father arrived. Max seemed very comfortable with his little
brother. That should help if the Lord King made Max nervous. Kasan
admitted that he was a bit uncertain about how this particular meeting
was going to go himself. His father tended to be a bit unpredictable.
It wasn’t helping his nerves that his body was still focusing on Max
and his hands.

He shakily inclined his head as his
father sat down across from him. After all the couples who’d been
funneling through, his father’s solitude touched a small ache in
Kasan’s chest that finally cleared the lust from his head. He hadn’t
seen his father sit down with his consort since Kasan was a small
child. Their mother had died of a fever soon after the birth of Aosh
and Zonta, a few months after father’s heat had ended. Memories of her
teasing his father into laughter always hit him the hardest at family
gatherings like this.

“How is your consort
adjusting?” his father asked softly. His deep brown eyes were watching
Max curiously. Max was so engrossed in his conversation with Zonta he
didn’t even notice the man’s presence.

“I think
having a little of the language is helping him quite a bit.”

The
Lord King nodded. “I am correct in thinking the little creature is
male?” Kasan flushed and nodded. He wasn’t quite sure how to interpret
his father’s expression until Kyoru spoke again. “And this isn’t a
problem for you? The elders have been worried about the effects on both
of you if you haven’t any desire for one another. We don’t need another
tragedy like that in the family. So tell me the truth: do you need to
wait until the heat hits before you can perform with your consort?”

Kasan
chuckled. Maybe he shouldn’t have bothered to control himself. Then
everyone would have known exactly how little they had to be concerned
about. “Honestly? I think he’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my
life. There is NO problem at all in that arena.”

His
father smiled broadly. “I was hoping that was the case.”

Kasan’s
hand rubbed over Max’s stomach and his consort’s body relaxed slightly.
“My preferences seem to have aligned themselves nicely with Max’s
looks, I’m happy to say. I’m more worried about wearing him out than
anything else.” Kasan exchanged another smile with his father over
Max’s head.

Kasan flinched. He
should have known father would get right to the point. Kasan had
already called himself five kinds of idiot for not letting everyone
know that Max was human. He could have gotten him killed, and all
because he wanted to come out ahead in he and his brothers’ constant
games of one-upmanship. He knew he’d made a huge mistake.

Knowing
he’d screwed up didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to pay dearly, but
acknowledging it might mitigate his punishment slightly.

“My
apologies, father. It was foolish of me and I’m well aware the results
could have been fatal.” He shuddered as he imagined Max seriously
injured. If something he’d done had caused Max to be hurt, he didn’t
know what he would have done.

Kyoru’s voice was
still soft when he spoke again. “I’m sure you are. You’re far from an
idiot. And to tell you the truth, watching that little chase of yours
around the Greeting room was quite entertaining.” He smiled briefly
before looking serious again. “I’m sorry to say that the elders didn’t
find the spectacle as enjoyable.”

Kasan winced. His
father’s two aunts were the eldest in the family at the moment, and if
his father was mentioning them, it could only mean they’d given him a
message to relate. He glanced around, trying to get a feel for the mood
of the room. Jolan was smirking. Tisu was positively gloating at him
every time Roto wasn’t looking. Nolluz was busy pontificating to some
young cousin and Aosh was off in a corner kissing the face off of a
visiting dignitary that he must have smuggled into Firstmeal.

The
smirking and gloating had him worried. What had the elders decided on?

“You
withheld information from the family that we needed to know, Kasan. As
a result, your consort was frightened half out of his mind and put into
a situation where he could have been seriously injured.” His father
stared at him and Kasan’s ears flattened. He swore he could hear Tisu
enjoying this. “A Recompense has been decided on for your actions.”

“I
understand.”

Dammit. He really didn’t need this
right now!

“What exactly is required of me?” It
could be practically anything. The two women were nothing if not
creative when it came to dealing with problems within the family.
Sometimes he hated the old biddies almost as much as he loved them.

The
Lord King smiled and held out a long, heavy red ribbon tied into a
decorative loop at one end with a gold clasp. Kasan heard Jolan and
Tisu make quiet, celebratory whoops and his tail tightened up on Max’s
waist before he could stop himself. Max started petting his arm.

“Service?!
But…”

“Your little one is too small to treat
endangering his health lightly. One top of that, it has some concrete
significance so that it can be understood by your consort.” His father
grinned at him with a little sympathy. “Be glad they were in a good
mood and they want your consort to feel he has had justice more than
they want you to learn a lesson.”

Kasan took a deep
breath. He didn’t entirely agree, but he was a part of the family.
Father was right. It could have been worse. “For how long?”

“I
managed to talk them down to one day. You’ll need to introduce your
consort to them at the end of your service.”

“I’m
sure Jolan will love to hear it.” And he was sure the bastard and all
his brothers would taunt him over it as well. All day long, as often as
they could. Why did it have to be Service?! Damn.

The
Lord King chuckled at the expression on his face. “You start tomorrow
morning at Firstmeal. Since the little one may not understand what is
involved, I’m trusting you with the collar. I’m sure you can find a way
to explain to him what your duties will be.”

Kasan
took the ribbon and placed it in front of him, trying not to look at
it. He was going to get so much shit tomorrow! He couldn’t keep his
ears off his skull right now if he tried. “Yes, father.”

Taking
a deep breath, his father smiled broadly and turned his focus back to
Max. “So, now that we’re done with that unpleasantness, tell me about
your consort. Where does he come from?”

“I don’t
know.” He wished he did.

Kyoru frowned. “Do you not
know where his family is, then?”

“We don’t even know
if he has a family at this point. I’m hoping I can talk to him about it
later today if he’s learned enough Hinta.” He hated what he was going
to have to say next. “He was drugged with Argenta when Shovak had him
given to me.”

Kyoru was very still. Kasan could see
the effort it was taking him not to react. His father knew the drug’s
prevalence among slavers. The thought that his own brother had dealings
with slavers, after all those bastards had done to the Kyashin before
they’d been stopped, must be utterly devastating. Almost worse than the
knowledge of how badly Shovak had betrayed the family was going to be.
Kasan really wished he wasn’t the one who was going to have to tell his
father all about this.

“Father?” He kept his voice
soft. “The family needs to gather today. Leero has found some things
that we shouldn’t wait much longer to discuss.”

Kyoru
sighed deeply, his eyes losing some of their shine. “Involving Shovak,
I assume?” Kasan nodded. He hated seeing the pained look on his
father’s face. Kyoru didn’t deserve to have a brother like Shovak. No
one did. If one of Kasan’s siblings had acted so dishonorably… It was
impossible to even consider.

“Do you wish your
consort to be included?” his father asked, looking at Max.

“I’d
prefer he have some time to himself. I think he’s had enough for the
day.”

“He may be excused then. We can use the Great
Room after Firstmeal.” His father was silent, and they both watched Max
and Zonta for a few more minutes. Kyoru cleared his throat. “So, are
you going to introduce me to the little one?”

Kasan
rubbed Max’s shoulders until his consort looked up at him and he
pointed. “Max, this is my father, the Lord King of the Hinta. Father,
this…is Max.”

His father smiled slowly and bowed
with careful precision. “I’m very, very pleased to meet you,
sweetheart. Welcome to the family.” Max looked at him seriously, his
brow furrowed at the slight change in structure and he worried his lip
before he spoke.

“You
may call me father, if you wish, little one.” At Max’s blank look,
Kasan’s father adapted and simply pointed to himself. “Father.”

“Father.”
Max’s eyes brightened and he tilted his head to look back to Kasan.
“Kasan father?”

“Yes, Kasan’s father.” Kyoru reached
across the table and laid one large hand over Max’s. “No one should be
without a family, little one. We may not be able to find yours right
away, but until then, we will do all we can to make up for such a great
loss.” He took Max’s hand and pulled it up until Max was reaching
across the table, touching the Lord King’s chest. “Max’s father.”

Kasan
took a deep breath, touched. His father had made the same offer to
Roto, and the poor thing had been nearly incoherent with the honor. To
be taken into another family was not something his father could simply
offer. The elders must have discussed this along with his Service.

He
wouldn’t forget their generosity.

Max’s body was
tense on his lap, and his voice was a little confused when he answered.
“M-Max’s father.”

Kasan took Max’s hand and
pressed one finger against his father’s lips. “Thank you,” he prompted
in Max’s ear.

“Thank you, Max’s Father.”

His
father smiled and took a moment to give in to temptation and fuzz the
earless top of Max’s head. Kasan laughed as Max pulled away. He could
just imagine that familiar disgruntled look on Max’s face. Kyoru smiled
at them both.

“Best wishes on your mating, Kasan.
I’m happy it has worked so well for you. We’ll talk after the meal.”

Kasan
bowed his head as his father stood. He’d barely raised it before more
relatives were coming by. His eyes strayed to the red ribbon lying on
the table. Everyone would know what was coming as soon as they set eyes
on it. What a huge pain in the ass. Trying to smile and look
threatening enough to keep anyone from making a snide comment, Kasan
sat through the introduction of countless cousins and aunts and uncles.
Everyone was making sure they dropped by so they could at least get a
glimpse of Max. He took Neera’s advice and asked the few with children
to keep them across the table from Max until they could be sure he’d be
safe.

He’d thought the entire thing might be
overwhelming for his consort, but the man hardly seemed to notice.
Every spare moment he was questioning and repeating words and phrases
with Zonta; he only paused to repeat an introduction before he’d be
back to Zonta and the pages on the table. Kasan had to explain that the
little one couldn’t speak Hinta, and was a male, and wasn’t Kyashin so
many times he thought he should simply create a sign to set up at their
table.

He kept them both there until almost no
food was left on the tables and his relatives started withdrawing from
the room. When Leero gestured at him with his head, he finally
interrupted Zonta’s attempts at speaking human.

“I
need to take Max back to our room now, Zo. The rest of us are gathering
in the Great Room right after the meal. Do you think you might have
time afterwards to help finish teaching Max the rest of these pages?”
He’d really rather just cuddle and caress Max for the rest of the day,
but the language would be more important to him.

“He’s
done.”

“Pardon?” That couldn’t be right.

“He’s
finished the pages. There’s one that doesn’t seem to be something he
understands, but all the rest we’ve finished. He’s been teaching me his
language for the past few minutes.”

“All of them?”

‘He’s
very good with words. I’d be happy to keep working with him on the
language, however. His is fascinating. I can hardly wait until I can -”
Zonta began to mutter, thinking to himself, and Kasan shook his head,
impressed.

“We’ll talk afterwards, then.” He nodded
to Zonta’s head, snagged the ribbon in one hands, and scooped up Max as
he stood. Heading for the door, cradling Max, he had to grin as his
consort sputtered and gestured at him. Max quieted as they left the
room. Crossing his arms over his chest, his face adorably flushed, he
glared up at Kasan while they walked. Kasan felt his mood lift. Max was
just too damn cute.

He was glad his rooms weren’t
too far, though. It would give him a little time to get Max settled
before he’d have to head back. As soon as he was inside his room and
let Max down, however, the little one started gesturing wildly again
and pointing at him.

“No! No, Kasan! Max, Kasan -
no on top of bed! No THERE!” Kasan saw him pointing to the bed and
shaking his head and he smiled. It was lovely to be able to hear Max
trying to make himself clear. It also had some possibilities he hadn’t
considered before.

“Ahhhhh, I see. No sex?” Kasan
reached down before Max could move away and he pulled him close. “Are
you sure, Gisho?”

“No sex! NO sex!” Kasan let him go
and Max was halfway across the room before he finished speaking. He
scowled as Kasan laughed a little.

He took one step
towards him and Max backed away again. “Shhhh. It’s all right. No sex.
We wouldn’t have time anyway, as much as I might like to. No sex right
now.”

“No sex?” Max stopped retreating.

“None.
No sex. You’re cute behind is quite safe at the moment.”

“Safe?
No…danger?”

“Yes.” He needed to take a look at the
Zonta’s papers and see just what words were there. He’d grab them on
the way down. Right now… “Here, precious. I have something to show
you.” He tossed the ribbon into a wall alcove and walked to the far
wall. He gestured for Max to come over. Eyeing him suspiciously, Max
sidled closer. Kasan had to wait until he was within reach before he
could continue. Showing him the small green streak that designated the
door, he pressed Max’s hand against the wall and purred reassuringly
when Max jumped as the door opened. Max followed him out and his
reaction to Kasan’s private garden was more than Kasan had hoped.

He
was glad Max liked it. He didn’t have a lot of entertainment for
someone Max’s size who couldn’t read, but at least Kasan could let him
spend some time here while he was gone. It was well within the walls of
the citadel, and with the privacy enclosure around it, this was as
private and safe as Kasan could get for Max without locking him in
their room.

“Max?” Max was staring up at the sky
as though he’d never seen it before, and it startled Kasan to realize
that it was an actual possibility. Had Max ever seen the Kyashin sky,
or had he been too drugged when he’d arrived on the planet? Kasan
personally loved the outdoors, being outside under the blue sky, or at
night when either of the moons shown. Max looked fascinated, and he was
so glad he’d shown him the gardens. He wished he’d thought to do it
before.

A
smile finally. “Safe. Yes. Safe here.” Kasan sighed. Thank God, the
little one learned quickly. It was such a relief not to see that
frightened incomprehension on his face now. Crap….he needed to show him
a few things.

“Max, in here.” He gestured inside
and left the door opened as he pointed to the alcove. “There’s food and
drink. Understand?” Max looked at the food and nodded slowly, gesturing
to his mouth. Then he bit his lip, his feet shifting.

The
other humans, Kasan thought. “I don’t know where they are, Gisho. I’m
so sorry. No Max’s family here.” Seeing the small shoulders slump, he
wished like hell he could have told him differently. “We’ll find them,
Max.”

He stood awkwardly. He hated leaving Max
unhappy like this, but there wasn’t anything he could think of that
would compensate for what his consort was going through. It made his
gut churn that he couldn’t make this better.

Max
began to squirm and drew his attention. “Um. I…have to…urinate?” Kasan
nodded and showed him the door on the opposite side of the room. A
quick slide of Kasan’s hand against the wall taught Max where to put
his hand in order to open it.

Before Max could
disappear inside, he stopped him. “I’ll be back soon, Max. Kasan go
now.” Max’s big eyes stared up at him and he groaned. That sweet face
was so delectable. He leaned down and kissed him quickly, just because
he couldn’t think of anything else he could give Max to express how he
was feeling right then. That, and he wanted one last taste of Max’s
lips before he had to leave for a few hours. He ran a hand over Max’s
head as he pulled back. Max glared at him, panting slightly.

“Keeping
me honest, hmmm? All right. No sex. You’re right. I need to get going.”
He went to the door out and turned back as it opened.

“I’ll
be back soon, Precious.”

Max shifted his feet a
little and did an odd wave with his hand. “Ah’ll be back soon pre-shus.”

Kasan
nodded, biting his tongue until the door closed behind him, and smacked
Esgard as the man smiled.

“ Don’t say it.”

“I
wasn’t going to speak.”

“Good.” Son of a bitch.

He
wondered how many of his brother’s were going to be calling him
Precious by this time tomorrow.

##

Max
watched to make sure Kasan was actually gone before he used the
facilities. Looking around the room as he came back in, he headed
straight for the door to the outside. He needed something to cheer him
up. He’d really been hoping Kasan and the others knew where the colony
was, but it didn’t look like Kasan had a clue. Where the hell WAS
everyone? How the hell had he gotten here when no one else had? It made
no sense! He sighed, rubbed his hands over his face as he walked out
the door, and groaned as his lips tingled.

Stupid
cat, kissing him all the time. Was there ever going to be a time where
Kasan wasn’t molesting him? Flushing, he glanced back inside at the bed
and imagined what might be happening there when Kasan came back. Then
he growled at his body’s response and leaned back to look at the sky.
No more thinking of cats, or Kasan, or the colony, or anything other
than the fact that he wasn’t stuck inside a building. He was actually
outside. It felt like he’d been trapped inside forever. He hadn’t seen
one single window since he’d first woken up with the cats. He should
enjoy this while he could.

He blinked at the bright
blue of the sky broken up with a few wispy white clouds. It was
strange. Who knew how far it was from earth, but the sky was still
blue. Just not quite the right blue. He kept blinking, trying to get
the color to change to what he expected. The color was just so intense,
like an azure sunset across the whole sky. Pretty, but disturbing. His
gaze dropped and he looked at the plants instead. One brief glance and
he was glaring at them nervously.

This was
definitely Kasan’s garden; all the freaking plants were damn giants. It
was like a wall of vivid green. Surrounding him were bushy ferns and
thin reeds and tall, straight trees that looked a bit like pines, with
small thin paths of pale rock winding their way into the jungle. He
could hear running water somewhere nearby, but there were too many
plants to see into the greenery any great distance. He’d have to push
leaves aside just to walk down a path, the growth was so thick. At
least he could see glimpses of a wall a ways back behind some of the
taller trees. A garden jungle was a hell of a lot less frightening than
the real thing.

It was supposed to be safe, he
reminded himself. Kasan had said it was safe. He knew that word now. If
this was safe, that meant there couldn’t be anything like man-eating
pod plants or poisonous trees or blood sucking crickets. He knew there
was something alive in the place; there were strange whistles and
chirpings and rustles among the leaves. If it was safe, though, he
could relax and just check it all out. He didn’t have to be afraid. He
could just look around, without anyone watching him or screwing him
against a damn wall. He could explore.

He took a few
steps onto the right-hand path, wincing a little as the pebbles dug
into his feet. There were round, but they still hurt a little. Had to
toughen up his feet if he couldn’t get any shoes. With a deep breath,
he pushed his way through a fern on the path and started walking. It
was cooler in the shade of the trees, without the sun beating down on
his legs and keeping them warm. The smells were rich and pungent, with
an odd waft of fruity sweetness every once in a while whenever he
passed small, broad-leafed shrubs with colorful flowers. He followed
the path as it led deeper under the trees, and started to relax as he
made his way through without encountering anything but plant life.
Whatever was rustling nearby was staying away.

“This
is actually really nice,” he murmured. He was congratulating himself
when he pushed aside a broad leaf in front of his face and something
pink caught his attention. Slime covered and bright, as large as a
Galapagos tortoise, it sat on the path ahead of him and he wondered at
first if it was some kind of mammoth fungus.

“You
are one butt ugly piece of plant life.” A giant gelatinized lump of
Pepto-Bismol was all that he could think of, and he felt himself gag at
the thought. Blech. Kasan had some weird tastes in plants. Walking on
the edge of the path, he was about to skirt around it when it trembled
and moved.
Towards him.

He scooted back,
eyes wide. Was this freaking thing some kind of animal, or had he just
imagined it moving? A ripple ran across its surface and it slid along
the trail a few inches in his direction. He started walking backwards.
Safe garden or not, that was the creepiest, grossest thing he had ever
seen in his life. He was damn well going inside! He glanced behind him
to make sure he wasn’t about to hit a tree and then continued walking
backwards while he watched the jello critter to make sure it stayed the
hell away from him. He was almost out of sight of it when its surface
shuddered and small spikes jutted out like a slimy hedgehog on
steroids. He froze.

He
backed up so quickly he went off the path and hit a tree. Ow! He spun
around it with a jerk and ran. What the hell was it?! He could hear it
crushing leaves and twigs behind him as he ran. Jumping over ferns and
leaping to the side as he tried to dodge trees in his path, he ran
until his legs were numb and the thing just wouldn’t stop! He had no
idea where the hell the door was anymore; he just had to lose it! The
slick rustling behind him seemed to get louder and he looked back in a
panic. He grunted as he tripped over a fern. Rolling head over heels,
he face planted into the dirt just in time to save himself from hitting
the wall with his nose. Dirt in his eyes and mouth, he scrabbled
desperately, trying to get to his feet as the thing closed on him.
Panting with terror, he ended up splayed against the wall as the mound
of spikes advanced.

Moments away from being
impaled, brown fur jumped down from the nearest tree. It stood,
growling, in between him and the giant pink loogey. He had a glimpse of
sun glinting off needle sharp claws as a large paw slipped under the
charging jello blob and flipped it up onto its back.

Gulps
and gasps were all he could manage as he tried to get his shaking legs
to bear his weight enough to run away from the new animal. The furry
thing leapt onto a pink belly, plunging its head in with a snarl. Max
couldn’t move as the slime covered head emerged from a gaping hole it
had torn in the underside of the blob. It was chewing on something pale
and slippery, and the pink stuff slowly started to deflate almost
before the creature jumped off.

“Ewwwww!” The
creature shook itself like a dog and slime flew into Max’s legs and
face. “Gross!” When it finally stopped, Max watched it, readying
himself to defend against whatever the hell this new thing was, and
then he gaped stupidly.

He’d been saved from the
gelatin blob by a puppy.

It wasn’t exactly, but…
aside from the slime it was currently cleaning from its brindled fur,
it looked like an adorable, fluffy little puppy with floppy ears. The
size of a small terrier, it was cute as a button, and with a long tail
that seemed more like a monkey’s. A wet black nose on a blunt snout and
large, orange eyes looked at him once and then went back to cleaning,
obviously unconcerned with his presence. Maybe this was why Kasan had
said it was safe? He had a guard dog?

“Thank God!
You are the best damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” The little
thing stopped licking itself and stared at him, its tail swishing like
a cat’s, and it bared its teeth just slightly.

‘I’m
sorry, shhh. I didn’t mean to yell, little guy. Here, smell me. See,
I’m okay.” He crouched down and held out his hand. The puppy crept
forward and sniffed at him. “You are just gorgeous, aren’t you?” He
really was a pretty thing. The slime was already licked almost
completely clean, leaving behind thick and silky fur. Browns and creams
blended together until it looked almost like it was made of velvet
dirt. He stood very still as it rubbed it’s damp head against the palm
of his hand.

“Do you like to be pet? Huh, boy?” He
stroked carefully and smiled when it not only let him scratch it behind
its ears, it began to rub over his arm and higher, it’s body undulating
up to his own until the dog was squirming with small, odd little growls
while Max petted its fur and fuzzed along its belly when it reared up
to rub against his chest.

He tried to push it away
as it began to lick his face clean of the small bits of slime still
there. Soft orange eyes stared up at him and he grumbled. “Hell, puppy
dog eyes really do work.” With a sigh, he let it continue cleaning him
until it seemed happy.

The little thing had saved
him, the least he could do was let it satisfy its urge to get the slime
off. He smiled when it finally subsided and lay across his knees while
he stroked it’s back.

“Well, you’re not a cat, but
then again, I think I’ve had enough cats for a while.” The little beast
let out an odd humphing sigh that felt like agreement and he laughed.
“Right. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your buddies a cat owns you. Wouldn’t
want you to be embarrassed or anything.”

He dug his
fingers into the fur and scratched until the puppy started to whine.
“Guess I get to name you until Kasan comes back and tells me what your
name is, huh?” It should be something heroic. The little guy had saved
him from spiky horror-show reject; he should have a name to reflect
that. “How about Androcles? He saved the lion first instead of the lion
saving him, but I can at least promise that I’ll help you out if I ever
get the chance.”

Androcles looked up at him,
stretched his forelegs out while extending his claws, and rubbed his
head against Max’s belly with a soothing trill.

“Okay.
Androcles then. I need to find one of the stupid paths. Don’t suppose
you know where they are?” Androcles got off his knees and waited while
he got up from his crouch before it walked away. He stared at him when
the puppy stopped as they crossed one of the paths. “No way. You
actually found one!” He followed Androcles along the path until he came
out from under the cover of the plants and saw the door to Kasan’s
bedroom.

“You are freaking Lassie! Awesome!” He
felt safe until he wondered if any more pink things were around, and
whether any of them had slipped inside when he was wandering the
garden, running for his life.

When Androcles
trotted into the room, the thing’s tail swishing happily behind it like
a giant sideways pendulum, he was happy to follow. He stood at the
entrance until he’d seen Androcles explore the entire room before it
came over to rest its cool nose in Max’s palm. Androcles definitely
deserved a hug, and he crouched down and gave it to him. “Thanks, boy.
I’ll tell you, that pink thing was even scarier than the damn cats.”

Androcles
bumped up against his arms and then wriggled free. With an odd grunting
sort of bark, it trotted over to the log that went from the floor to
the high hole in the wall. It sprouted claws like a cat and climbed
until it had gone through the opening at the top. He looked up to see
orange eyes peer down a moment as it barked once more before it
disappeared.

So that’s what the damn thing was
for. It was a tree climbing, alien dog run. Nice to know what that was
now, anyway. He turned from it with a sigh, noticed the still open
door, and went over to close it with a quick, nervous look outside.
Relieved as he got it closed without anything coming in after him, he
looked at the room around him. How long was he supposed to stay here?
His stomach growled, reminding him of how little he’d actually eaten at
the meal, and he went over to the shelf on the wall with food wrapped
up on it. He could start with eating something and worry about what to
do to pass the time later. Maybe he could try leaving the room when he
was done.

With another sigh, he bit into a pastry
that looked particularly tasty, and went over all the new words he’d
been learning as he chewed. This looked like it was going to be a long,
long day.